US Trip

With this in mind I hunted out people interested in a trek to Florida to watch the Discovery launch in July. In March I had garnered interest from Ben (who I work with) and Gavin (who is a good friend of Ben's) and we booked flights and accomodation for the trip. The plan was to watch the lauch (with some time allowance for delays), then head to San Francisco for a few days, then down to Las Vegas and then home.

May rolled around and the project managers running the Discovery launch announced that the payload would not be ready in time for the July launch of Discovery. It was pushed back until Setember and the Endeavor launch was rescheduled for November. This was definitely going to cause some pain in terms of rebooking fees for flights so we held off as long as possible (mid-June) before changing our flights. At this time, we bought another traveller on board - Alan (also known as Skip in the 4WD circles).

The end of July came and NASA announced the payload was still delayed. Discovery got bumped to November and Endeavor to February. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth but we did the whole cycle again - delayed our flight changes for as long as we could and then rebooked everything.

At the beginning of October, Discovery was rolled out to the launch pad. This was a good sign - it is normally done about 30 days ahead of the launch schedule and the payload is put onboard on the pad. So we were good to go.

We succesfully got to October 29th (our departure date) without any further delays on NASA's part and we left Perth.

Perth airport

The flight plan was Perth -> Auckland -> Los Angeles -> Atlanta -> Orlando. 42 hours in total with an 11 hour stopover in Auckland. Not the most convenient thing but when we booked it was the cheapest way to go by far.

The Perth to Auckland leg was pretty uneventful - we flew overnight, landing at about 6AM in Auckland. Got a bit of sleep on the plane and then cleared customs to spend the day in the city. Ben and Gavin went off to visit Ben's cousins; Alan and I decided to play tourist.

Auckland Sky Tower

Looking down from the tower

Harbour bridge

The view from the tower was awesome. Standing on the glass floor blocks was quite scary. There is a ride off the tower that basically lets you drop on a steel cable to the ground. We decided to skip that part. But, here's a video of someone doing it:

The video below is hosted on YouTube. If you can't view it or would like the original file, let me know.

We visited some markets and had a brief look around. There was a Japanese food stall there - Alan had the crab balls (with attached claws) and I had the octopus balls. Yum. Very rich taste.

Then we walked across town to the War Museum - in typical NZ fashion it rained on us. But the view was nice and it was good to be out of planes given that the bulk of our trip was still ahead of us.

A monument to pillows, perhaps?

Back to the airport we went - and did the crazy American security stuff where they insist on scanning your bags twice and getting you to put liquids into tiny plastic bags. Ok, to be fair we had to do that bit at the Australian end as well.

The flight to LA was again uneventful but I was in the middle seat and the guy next to me was rather large. When he slept he took about 25% of my space as well. Didn't make for a pleasant flight. I didn't get much sleep on this leg but arrived at the other end in reasonably good shape.

LAX is (as always) a bit of a hole. Customs took ages and we submitted ourselves to the usual fingerprint and retina scans. We sucessfully got across the airport to the Delta terminal (despite there being little to no navigational aids in the airport itself) and got through security.

On the way across the airport, we got an SMS saying that the shuttle launch had been delayed from Monday to Tuesday. There was a problem with the OMS (Orbital Maneuvering System) and it needed to be fixed. This was a bit disappointing but we'd expected small delays so no big deal.

LAX to Atlanta was a long flight but there was in-flight TV (live!) and other media so not so bad. Delta is a semi-budget carrier so the seats were not particularly comfortable and the food (purchasable on board) was very average. But it was safe and ok otherwise.

<rant>

Having said that, Delta do not provide baggage space for free when you purchase discount tickets. This is ok, except most Amercian flyers (and to be fair, this trend is starting in Australia too) then decide to pack everything into a bag that only just fits into the overhead lockers (and on some planes, they won't). Despite the bags clearly exceeding the size limit for carry on bags and people taking two huge bags (rather than the one bag and "personal" item (intended to be a small handbag or the like) they're entitled to) the ground staff never check staff or stop people taking huge bags on board.

This leads to a lack of overhead storage space - so much so that there is always an announcement saying that if the plane runs out of space they will take any additional bags (i.e. the people who board last - not necessarily the ones using all the space) and place them in the hold. And then you'll be charged for doing that.

It is crazy seeing people trying to stuff their huge bags into the overhead lockers and then have lockers that sometimes won't shut.

After writing this, when we were boarding the Minneapolis/St Paul -> San Francisco flight I witnessed (first hand!) the ground staff checking people's luggage to make sure it was going to fit and some people had theirs taken away to be put into the hold.

On top of this, Delta board by "zone". You'd think this would mean boarding the rear of the plane first (and maybe even boarding window, then middle, then aisle) and then filling it forward but it doesn't appear to be that way. It is almost random and I still have yet to figure out the reasoning behind this - even though I'm sure there is some scheme there..

</rant> - anyway...

Landing in Atlanta was a wild ride - about five minutes before landing the plane got down to what I think was stalling speed (about 150 mph) and it had a huge nose-up attitute with the engines being wound back up. Exciting stuff unless you're actually on board.

Atlanta is one of Delta's main hubs - big airport and some reasonable food. Alan and I grabbed a "Southern Chicken Sandwich" from some never-to-be-heard-of-again fast food joint which really was a fried piece of chicken breast (tasted awfully like KFC) surrounded by a very sugary bun. Oh, and there was a token pickle (yes, only one). Cheap but not exactly a balanced meal.

Orlando was next - thankfully, a short flight. The landing was again interesting (in new and unexpected ways - lots of harsh turns but we made it and managed to find our hire car.

Finally, to the hotel - checked in about midnight local time.

Next morning we were all feeling a bit better. Still not adjusted to the local timezone but getting there. The plan was to head out to Titusville and scope out viewing areas for the (now) Tuesday launch.

But before that we found a factory outlet mall and I purchased a set of Bose Quiet Comfort 15 headphones. My Senheiser headphones were good but after trying Ben's Bose headphones back in Perth I'd decided I would upgrade. And they were $200 less in the US than in Australia.

On the way, we saw an unusual store in a neighbouring shopping centre.

Yes, you can buy boats here. In a shopping centre. Amazing.

Using the GPS unit we had wisely reserved with the car, we made it out to Titusville. I was coming to grips with driving on the right-hand (i.e. wrong!) side of the road and with a few reminders from the ever-vigilant passengers we were good. Florida drivers are kind of erratic (or maybe I'm just too strict in following the rules) - I'd be doing 65 mph in a 65 zone and have people going past at 80 or more. And indicator usage is definitely optional. I love the "you can turn right at a red light if it is clear" rule - I wish we had that for left turns at home.

Titusville is the closest point from which you can observe a launch from the Kennedy Space Centre. We'd tried getting tickets for KSC and the causeway between the mainland and KSC but to no avail, so looking on from the beach was the next best thing.

In the dstance you can see the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) on the right and the launch pad dead centre of the shot.

After checking out some local viewing spots we were looking for something else to do. Gavin wanted to check out the Law Enforcement Museum so we headed over there. That's when we found the Astronaut Hall of Fame right next door so Ben, Alan and I went there instead (sorry, Gav).

LEM (Lunar Excursion Module)

Turns out I just don't fit in a Mercury capsule - height limit is 175cm and they're not kidding

Finally, we headed back to Orlando and grabbed dinner at a steak house right next to the hotel. We were all still pretty bushed so we had an early night.

Next morning the news came that the launch had been pushed out another day to Wednesday. Oh well. So we went off to KSC to do the tourist thing. We'd already booked for this so no big deal. This is where we discovered that everything in the US involved queuing - our first lesson was at the ticketing gate. Luckily we could see the rocket "farm" just over the fence.

	Our intrepid travellers	Yours truly	ISS (International Space Station)
Mercury	Saturn 1	Mercury, Gemini, Agena and more
F1 - first stage engine from Saturn V	Apollo command module	Saturn 1	That's a big engine

After wandering around the rockets and looking at a few exhibits, we jumped on a bus to do the KSC tour. Our first stop was an observation platform that isn't used on launch days - it is too close.

VAB - still about 5 km away	Shuttle launch tower in the distance	SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine)	Crawler used to transport shuttles and other rockets
Launch tower - shuttle is on the other side

Next stop is the Saturn V exhibit. Before that, it is worth reading all about the SSME.

Saturn/Apollo launch control	The business end of the launcher - five F1 engines	That's not a small rocket	And that's not an optical illusion
Where the first and second stage join	Second stage	LEM	Third stage
Apollo command module	Service module with command module at the front	Looking back down the stack

After spending a few hours looking at all the displays and other stuff, we headed back to the visitor centre.

Shuttle mockup on the left; external fuel tank is real but not flown; boosters have flown a dozen or so missions

Orion crew module mockup

KSC was a pretty big day and we didn't get to see anything. But the tickets were good for two days in a seven day period and we had a more detailed tour booked as well so we'd be back later in the week.

We headed back to Orlando and grabbed dinner at Johnny Rocket's Diner - at the recommendation of a friend (thanks, Pauline!) and Alan wanted the real diner experience.

Being the first Tuesday in November, Alan and I stayed up late at a sports bar hoping to catch a glimpse of the Melbourne Cup. Many beers (for me) and bourbons (for Alan) later no such luck - we got back to the hotel about 1 AM.

Up early the next morning - launch delay again until Thursday. Bah! Only one solution to this - theme parks! Off to Universal Studios.

Turns out, there are two Universal Studios theme parks right next to each other - we went to the original. Again, queuing up was the name of the game despite it being an overcast (ocassionally raining) weekday.

	My and Shrek's hand comparison	The Simpsons part of the theme park
Ben's solution to the rain - we abstained	Rockit! - I got five rides on this one

We had a blast - got on all the rides (Simpsons, T2-3D, Men in Black, Mummy (multiple times - very cool), Disaster Studios, Jaws and Rockit). Rockit has a vertical start; you can choose one of 25-odd tracks to listen to in your seat; and you can get a video of your ride when you're done.

That night we had dinner at the NBA restaurant next to Universal and then watched the Blue Man Group show. Very cool - unlike any other musical show I've seen and with a fair amount of audience participation. Plus, the music was excellent and the visuals were great. Highly recommended - if you haven't seen it, you should.

We did the extreme American shopping experience on Wednesday while waiting for the next launch time. First up was a mall (if you can call it that) that stretched several miles along a main road. We didn't visit every shop but we did stop in at a few interesting places.

Another stop was Walmart. This was about the size of a Bunnings Warehouse but had the equivalent of a camping store; Woolworths; chemist; Target and a few other things inside. Also in the same building were a hairdresser, manicure place; optometrist; bank; one-hour photo processing; photo portait place and a McDonalds. Wow.

Dinner that evening was at a small pizza place followed by a visit to a Scitec-like upside-down building with lots of tech toys to play with including a rope/jungle-gym thing that stretched across the top of one of the floors - about 3 metres off the ground.

Thursday morning dawned and wouldn't you know it - launch pushed back until Friday because of weather. Poo. Back to KSC for us.

Our first order of the day was to get on our paid tour - this takes you to places you can't normally get to (that's why you pay extra) and it was well worth the money.

My motto for the trip

First stop was out on the causeway where NASA and some contractor employees get to watch the launch from. Quite close, considering.

VAB visible but not the launch tower - it is there, just very small

Next we drove past pad 39B (Discovery was on 39A) which is being dismantled to make way for the next generation of launchers. We didn't get to stop but got a good view.

Then, we swung around and went to an obversation point less than 2 km from pad 39A. You can't be here during the launch - apparently it will damage your internal organs and you'll die. They even have a protective bunker for a diesel generator so it must be pretty bad.

Launch pad with liquid hydrogen tank on the far left

Launch pad with liquid oxygen tank on the far right

Note the astronaut escape line to the right

Interestingly, the hydrogen tank has a normal warning sign on it but the oxygen tank says "No Smoking". On the way back, we crossed over the crawler tracks. From one side to the other, they're about as wide as an eight-lane freeway.

The VAB was next. This is a huge building - it is hard to grasp the size of it even standing close to it. The American flag painted on the side is 21 stories high. It was built to hold four Saturn V launchers at the same time.

Finally, back to the KSC visitor centre and we finished all the stuff we wanted to see (except for one IMAX movie). We did get to try the shuttle launch simulator which wasn't too bad. I visited the gift shop and bought two books - so heavy that they immediately double the weight of my baggage. One is a detailed guide to the Apollo 11 mission with spectactular photos and the other is a heavily technical reference to the Space Shuttle (history, design and the first 100 missions). Yeah, I had a serious geek moment and couldn't decide which one I wanted so I got both.

Dinner that night was at Hooters - which despite the tainted view of it we Australians have, is treated as a family destination. Curious.

During the day, NASA had pulled back the service assembly from around Discovery to prepare for a Friday fuelling and launch. There was a 30% chance the weather would stop this but they would have a 5:30 AM meeting on Friday to discuss and then announce the plan of action.

Friday morning arrived and fuelling had commenced. Finally. And then it stopped. Damn. There was a hydrogen leak on the fuel line where it connects to the external tank. They'd tried fixing it but it hadn't worked. Launch was delayed until Sunday (maybe Monday) so they could fix the problem.

At this stage we were a bit worried. If the Sunday/Monday lauch did not happen, it would be delayed until early December. This was bad given that we would be back in Australia. We were hoping that NASA would hit Sunday.

Off to Universal Studios to cover the second theme park we went. Again with the queues.

On entry, we headed straight for the Hulk rollercoaster and nabbed front seats. It was a wild ride. You are launched out of the station (and I mean launched) into a twist and then it begins.

The twist

The ride from a distance

Lots of other stuff happening in the superhero part of the park. We had a go at the Tower of Doom but it wasn't that exciting.

In Cartoon Land there was a waster ride (and another in Jurassic Park) but it was unseasonly cold so we skipped both.

Velociraptors fighting over pizza

The Harry Potter part of the theme park was new. While the park seemed crowded (for a Friday - lots of kids around) we were not prepared for how many people had crammed themselves into the this part of the park. The queue to get into the shop (which apparently has wands that choose the new owner) was around two hours long. We took advantage of this to get on the dragon rollercoast ride - two rollercoasters that start side-by-side and get very close to each other.

There was also an indoor simulation ride that had a one-hour wait. We did this at the end of the day and it was excellent. The queuing system took you through the whole castle and there were lots of little things to look at; holograms; moving paintings; all the sort of stuff that would get Harry Potter fans excited. We were just there for the ride...

The next part of the park is the Lost Continent - Atlantis. Not too many rides here but there was a resonably good live-action Sinbad show.

Ampitheatre for the Sinbad show

Dr Suess land was amusing - as were the souvenirs. The rides were all for kids so we missed these ones out.

Back in Cartoon Land - Ms Betty Boop

Dinner that night was at the Nascar Grill. Not too bad, except for the news we got just before we'd eaten. There was a crack in the insulation on the external fuel tank. The launch was scrubbed with a tentative date of December 1st. And the launch time was going to be 4AM - which is great if you want to see a bright light and hear lots of noise but not that fantastic for spectators.

What to do? We couldn't really extend the trip and even if we did the viewing opportunity would be below average. We'd all known the risks at the start of the exercise, so we formulated a plan.

Flights and accomodation were booked - off to Washington DC we would go. The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum was the object of interest. A tentative plan to come back and see a Delta IV Heavy launch on November 18th was made - but it was a classified launch so we didn't know when it was going up. We'd decide later once (if!) the details were published.

We still had a day to burn until our flight so we headed to the Warbirds Mueseum just outside Titusville. This was very cool - all run by volunteers and they have a large collection of planes (some of which are still in flying condition) and other stuff like engines, radio sets and historical memorabilia. We also got to tour their restoration hanger.

Washington DC was cold with the wind blowing to make it colder. But, we were at a hotel one block away from the Smithsonian. After a bit of a sleep-in, off we went. We spent the entire day there and only just managed to see (just about) everything, including the IMAX movie we missed at KSC.

Capitol building	Staying in the sun but out of the wind	Looking at the sun	Global Flyer
Spaceship One	Sputnik	X-15	Russian SS20 (left) and US ICBM (right)
Viking	X-15 asgain (very pretty)	High-bypass ratio modern jet engine
Funny quote	Stewardess requirements of the 50s - female, pretty and single	Flying boat	DC3
Front of a 747	ME262	Military turbojet	Military turbojet
	Hubble telescope	Apollo/Soyuz	V2, V1 and Skylab
Early lifting body - as seen crashing at the beginning of the Six Million Dollar Man	LEM	Cray 1 - I had a large geek moment here	Early GPS receiver - needed a backpack to carry it
Computing in the space era	HiMAT - I remember reading about this when I was a kid - very cool looking experimental aircraft	X-29 with forward swept wings - looks fantastic	Apollo 11 command module (Columbia)
Rocket size comparison	Saturn/Apollo	Another shot of the glorious F1	Original Wright Brothers bicycle
Wright flyer	Replica of Amelia Earhart's plane	Mail service revolution	Voyager
F-104 Starfighter - amazingly thing leading edges and wings	Gossamer Albatross

At this point, a small story. When I was about 10 we visited this museum. I remember quite a bit of it (including Skylab, the IMAX theatre and this exhibit) - but there has obviously been a lot added. In this room I remember Dad struggling to get a shot of the mural on the wall.

Mescherschmidt	Spitfire	Zero	The mural - couldn't fit it all in
Carrier avaiation exhibit	Scale model of the Enterprise - took 12,000 hours or more to complete
U2	Original Enterprise model in the gift shop - not for sale

After the Smithsonian we caught up with Andrew, Laura, Rick and CJ for dinner at an excellent (turns out reputedly the best) steak house in DC. Not cheap but excellent food.

Outside was the Newsuem - front pages from about 50 newspapers. Then we walked back to the hotel.

Capitol building at night

Washington Monument at night

The next day we split up. Ben and Gavin went to the International Spy Museum and the CSI Museuem and then Ben did a Segway tour while Gavin took in the Smitshonian Natural History Museum. Alan and I took a bus about an hour out of DC to see the remainder of the Smithsonian's planes which are at a hanger next to Dulles airport. Of interest was a SR-71 Blackbird that was decomissioned then flown from Los Angeles to DC in just over an hour - setting a new record on the way.

On entry, planes, planes and more planes - to the right, left and straight ahead	And there she is - wow
Just couldn't get enough of the Blackbird	Malevolent
Very sharp - you could take an eye out on that	They designed this with slide rules - still can't be beaten	Business end - note the afterburner rings
	Arty shot of the SR-71 and Enterprise	The Loon - a copy of the German V-1	Space Shuttle Enterprise
Was flown in the atmosphere but never launched to space - note the "Remove Before Flight" tag	Mercury capsule with retro-rocket package still attached	Saturn instrumentation ring	R2D2 post box - signed by George Lucas
Mercury/Gemini phone booth	ICBM (Redstone, I think)	Russian inner solar system probe (Venus, maybe)	Some type of space telescope
Lots of satellites	Spacelab	Another F1 - brute force personified	The top of the F1 - note the kerosene and oxygen inlete top right and left
Another launch vehicle size comparison	Amateur satellites	Early communications satellite	Random launch vechile - probably ICBM based
Smaller geek moment here - 128k of RAM for $1.9 million	More older computers	Ramjet based missile	Ramjet based missile
Solid booster (Loki) with atmosphere testing unit on top (Dart) - runs until 1500 metres and then the Dart keeps going on its own to 65 kilometres up - that's some acceleration	More rocket engines	More rocket engines	Lots of missiles
V2 turbopump assembly (left) and motor cutaway (right)	Spaceship from Close Encounters - I found R2D2 and the cemetary that the model makers added		More missiles
Cutaway of a nuclear submarine with Poseidon missiles	NASA use these satellites in geosynchronous orbit for communications rather than ground stations - very high bandwidth	Radar ground mapper caried on the Space Shuttle	More missiles
More missiles including a Tomohawk in the background and an ASAT in the foreground	Oribtal anti-satellite weapon	Poseidon sub-launched ICBM	SSME - not quite as big as the F1 but very impressive
Plane-launched rocket for orbiting satellites	Back side of the SSME - note that input lines with the turbines visible	MIG-21	F4 Phantom
American and Russian Korean war planes	Radar unit	A6-E Intruder	F-35 (or at least the prototype) - has a shaft-drive vertical lift engine
F-14	Metal from the Pentagon after 9-11 - at the bottom is some material from the World Trade Centers	Many engines on display - large, heavy and powerful - 18 cylinders; 54.9 litres; 1.2 tonnes; 1,641 kW	Merlin - 12 cylinders; 27 litres; 411 kg; 1,111 kW
Wankel - 1 litre; 108 kg; 186 kW	36 cylinders (nine banks of four); 127 litres; 2.7 tonnes; 3,729 kW (wow)		Turboprop from a C-130
Elswhere was this newly designed propller for the C-130 - carbon-fibre composites	Random aerobatics plane caught in mid-flight	Used by the British to ferry stuff in and out of France during WWII - amazing - could take off and land inside 250 feet	First twin-engine bomber (WWI) - rotary engines - the propeller and cylinders turned around a stationary crankshaft
Enola Gay - the real thing - wow		Some random flying wing designed by Howard Hughes	Lots of planes
	P-38 Lightning	Concorde (amongst others) - delivered on a verbal agreement from Air France
			Pointy
Kinda crowded in here	Boeing Dash80 - prototype of the 707		Trailing edge of the wing - note the exposed hydraulics - you don't see that on modern planes
Another flying wing - German one, I think	German WWII plane - with pusher and puller propellers	Lots of planes
Original Lear Jet - number 2 off the production line - and a glider		Super Constellation
High-bypass ratio engine newly removed from a Korean Air 777 - still smelled like brnt kerosene	Lots of helicopters - this one had ramjets on the end of the blades	The first Federal Express delivery plane	Bell Jet Ranger (the extended model) - first helicopter to fly around the world
First pressurised airliner	Russian aerobatics plane - can do +12G and -10G - wow	Famous US plane - the pilot broke many records - same type of plane that Amealia Earhart flew	More milestone jet engines
How it all works	Japanese super-secret submarine launched plane - only one in existence	Couple more Japanese items - in front is a kamikaze torpedo

I spent about half an hour in the observation deck watching planes land and takeoff at Dulles.

Classic car in the parking lot

Not-so-classic vehicle

Dulles airport

Dinner was at an Italian restuarant in DC that does things "family" style - big dishes that everyone shares from. Our entree (appetiser in American) is below - we had to take a doggy bag for that. We had ordered two mains (entrees in American - why do they do that?) and cut it back to one. Lucky we did.

Fried zucchini

The next day, Alan, Ben and I jumped on a plane for San Francisco via Minneapolis/St Paul. We only just made our connection - we had to run between terminals to get there. Gavin headed to Atlanta to visit CNN and the Coke museum.

We were pretty bushed after the flight so a quick dinner at a local (and very good) Vietnamese restaurant did the trick.

Next morning we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf. There was a great bakery there that had real bread (!) rather than the sugary stuff they serve as bread everywhere else in the US. Alan and Ben had breakfast there - I grabbed a crab sandwich in sourdough from a vendor just outside.

Alctaraz from the mainland	1800's sailing ship	Paddle wheel on the dock	Bread crab
Classic tram

Then, we jumped on a harbous cruise and took in the sights.

Our contendors - Gavin was off in Atlanta	WWII submarine	Looking back at San Francisco	Looking up the streets
Getting close to the Golden Gate Bridge	Traffic on the bridge	Cyclist on the bridge	One of the pylons
Under the bridge	Alcatraz again	The back side of Alcatraz	Bay Bridge part 1
Bay Bridge part 1	Another way to see the harbour

After that we caught a cable car into the centre of the city and back again.

Cable car turntable	Controls	Up we go!
Transformers!

Back at Fisherman's Wharf we did the tourist thing and then embarked on a Segway tour - highly recommended.

	On the dock next to the submarine	Crab pots being prepared for the fishing season	That's a big seagull!
	At the Wave Organ	Another big seagull
Headed back to base

After the tour we needed to go back to the hotel and I accidently navigated us up Lombard St which is pretty steep. Alan and Ben weren't too happy. I was glad to get my heartrate up a bit - missing being on the bike.

Alan not enjoying the stairs

Dinner was seafood on Pier 39 - very nice.

Thursday we grabbed a hire car (with a useless Magellan GPS - the Garmin unit in Orlando was so much better - this one had a terrible user interface and even worse directions) and headed down to San Jose.

Carl Solder (Cisco guy ex Perth now in San Jose) took us on a quick tour of the Executive Briefing Centre and then through the 6500 series switch testing labs. Can't show most of those photos (sorry).

EBC

The latest technology

After Cisco, we went off to Fry's to look around - it is a chain of huge electronics superstores - think the size of Bunnings Warehouse with everything from washing machines to cameras to resistors and motherboards. On the way back to SFO we dropped off at the Googleplex.

Outside Fry's - spotto!

While we were doing this, Gavin had paid $50 to change his flight from Atlanta to Las Vegas to an earlier one and then got stuck in a two hour queue at Las Vegas airport for a taxi. D'oh!

Our flight into Vegas was uneventful (but Virgin America was much nicer to fly than Delta - better inflight amenities) and we grabbed a shuttle to Luxor to avoid the taxi problem. A late, casual dinner in the food court and then off to bed.

The next day we walked up and down the strip in Vegas. Lots of stuff to see, including the M&M store (four floors of candy!) and the Coke souviner shop (only two floors but According to Gavin, bigger than the official Coke tourist stop in Atlanta - go figure).

I visited Dream Car Rentals and set up a rental car for Saturday.

We also spend considerable time discussing what shows to see. For Friday night, we chose Fanatasy at Luxor but Gavin went to see Carrot Top (also at Luxor) instead.

In between dinner and before the show we checked out a few nearby casinos (Excalibur; New York, New York; MGM Grand) and had a couple of rides on the rollercoaster at NY, NY. Very rough as compared to the coasters in Orlando (especially in the back - front seat is so much better); and the view out of anything but the front seat is zero but not bad - especially at night.

After that we were kind of dead and crashed out.

Excalibur - very cartoonish	Especially at night	New York, New York	MGM Grand
Aria - opening in December	Harley Davidson cafe	Caesar's Palace is huge
Paris	M&M shop - chess set
Coke shop	Only in America	Welcome to Vegas!	Giant sculpture outside Aria
Tried an arty shot of the balloon and its refelection	Interior of Luxor	Luxor at night	All manner of t-shirts
The car to be rented	Other hire cars

Saturday dawned and after a leisurly start to the morning it was time to go down and pick up the Lamborghini Gallardo. Unsure of what year it was but the lowest specification for the car is 367 kW @ 7800 RPM and 509.8 Nm of torque @ 4500 RPM - out of a 4.9 litre V10 - yum. Hopefully kept under control by the AWD system and tracion control.

Needless to say, I was a bit nervous about the car - I had taken out the full insurance package but the excess was still $10,000 if it came back damaged. Even if it wasn't my fault.

Anyway, went down and picked up the car. Had a ten minute briefing on all the important things - how to put the top down (automatic, thankfully - and providing and excellent view of the engine bay while in motion); how to put the car in reverse (a button!); how to put the car back out of reverse (into neutral - pull both flappy paddles at the same time with your foot on the brake); and highlighting the fact that I had a 50 mile limit before incurring extra charges (at $2 per mile). Needless to say, we exceed that by about 30 miles. Oh, and don't drive across high obstructions - the car is very low - but has an indicator to let you know when there is something under the front of the car that might damage it such as a speed hump.

Drove out of the lot and immediately got looks like we were rock stars. Everyone wants to know you in this car. About 50% of Americans don't know what it is but they would like to find out.

The six-speed gearbox is actually a clutchless manual - you can put it in flappy paddle mode or in automatic. I tried automatic for a bit but didn't like it so went back to manual. That's when I found the downshift function. When you change down a gear (from, say, third to second) the car automatically blips the engine and then it burbles down. Very nice. How much it blips depends on the speed you're doing and it just sounds awesome.

The second thing I noticed was the dual-stage exhaust. Give the car a little prod (and only a little - you don't need to plant it) and the exhaust opens up. This guarantees lots of looks. And is like a massage for your ears.

On the way back to Luxor, took a wrong turn into a casino entrance and nearly didn't get out - but eventually wound back up on the road and headed in the correct direction along the strip.

At Luxor, picked up Gavin (and then Ben) to give them a ride around the block. There was a convenient short tunnel on the exit to the car park and it turns out that gunning it through there delivers a massively satisfying echo. Gavin's comment was "I understand why you hired this car now."

After that, put Alan back in the car and we headed out to Red Rock Canyon. I had been out there a few years before (in a Dodge Viper also from Dream Car Rentals) and it is a nice drive. Along the way there was much experimenting with the exhaust note. Again, very satisfying. I took it easy and didn't exceed the speed limit (too much) on the way out of town.

Once out on the highway (with the limit at a dawdling 50 mp/h) the speed went up a little with a few little runs in third gear just to feel the car out. Very solid. Stops well. Corners brilliantly. Accelerates crazily.

Once inside the 13 mile route through Red Rock Canyon there were a few more tight corners and small straights to accelerate on. Needless to say the 35 mp/h limit wasn't adhered to when there were no other cars (and cyclists) in sight.

Next stop was lunch at Orange Springs - just down the road - which is an olde-time mine encampment with a restuarant, horse rides and all the usual tourist stuff. Had to park the Lambo in a gravel, uneven carpark so that was a bit nervy but it all worked out well.

On the way in we saw a burro (donkey) on the road so that was something to watch out for. Having one come through the windscreen was not in the plan for the day.

Lunch was short because I wanted more time in the car - we only had it for five hours.

Headed back into Vegas the road was quiet and clear for a couple of miles so gave the car some gas. 130 mph (just shy of 210 km/h) was my limit. And it got there in around 12-13 seconds - probably could have accelerated a little faster but I wasn't keen to do that on an open road. As it was, we were at almost 2.5 times the limit. Time to slow down.

And lucky we did - around the next corner were a couple of burros on the road. Had plenty of notice and we were already well on the way back to the speed limit but the big brakes helped.

Had a nice sedate drive back into town - the car drinks fuel so needed to fill up (used just shy of a tank in 80-odd miles) but then I wasn't driving like a grandma.

It was about then that odd things were happening to the car - it was obvious that it wasn't being maintained as well as it could be - the gearbox kept "freezing" - it wouldn't change gears unless it was in automatic mode. And then (after a short stop) the car threw the "check engine" light and a bunch of codes. I called the hire car place and they told me to ignore it. So we did. It didn't take too much of the shine off.

As we were hading back onto the strip, I realised that we were on the wrong side and given that there are no u-turns allowed I'd need to turn left at some point and loop around to the hire place car park. The strip is rather badly signposted (actually, most Las Vegas streets are - the sign for the street is at the street itself) and I ended up turning into a casino entrance. Worse, we were queued across the traffic and the lights had turned green so we were blocking the road.

A quick look over my shoulder confirmed that even though I was in the right lane of two lanes turning left, the next car was about 50 metres back (ignoring the red light) so I put the Lambo on full lock and nailed it. In front of about 300 people at the cross walk. With full noise. In a bright yellow car. We got out of there very fast.

After that it was a slow drive back to the car park and I had to give the car back. Sad times.

			An actual scenery shot
			Orange Springs burro

Statue of Liberty - Jelly Belly style

That night we headed to the Cirque du Soleil Ka show. Didn't know much about it before heading in and wasn't disappointed. Amazing show - great acrobatics, music and performance. But (from a geek perspective) the star of the show was the stage. 40-odd tonnes of metal that can spin and change angle in pretty much any direction.

Performers run across, up, down and around the stage; fall off it into a 10 metre deep pit; climb up and down it on nearly-invisible spikes that slide in and out of it under computer control; - far too many things to remember.

The show cost $220 million dollars to develop and I can see where it went.

The next morning we had booked a Hoover Dam tour. A 1-hour or so bus ride out to the dam; an inside-the-dam tour and then a bus ride back. The dam itself is amazing - an incredible engineering feat and I won't bore you with the details but is worth a visit.

However, skip the bus ride. It takes you to various tourist traps and on our bus the air conditioning was so noisy we couldn't hear any of the commentary from the driver. Instead, hire a car and drive out - much quicker and for a few people together it will be cheaper. You'll also get to spend more time at the dam.

Pink Jeep tours - we didn't go on this	A tiny part of Lake Mead	Note how far the marina has been dragged down the shore	The new bypass bridge - opened three weeks before we got there
	At the dam	From the Arizona side	Chipmunk on a rock
Deep inside the dam	Turbine feed pipe - 10 metres in diameter		One of two turbine rooms
Back outside		Inlet towers - very low water level	Overflow pipe - 17 metres in diameter
Overflow area - big as a WWII battleship

That night we went to see the Penn and Teller show - well worth it if you are in town. The two performers are total cynics and will go out of their way to say that magic is a trick of the mind and then go on to prove it. Highly entertaining.

On Monday we booked a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon with Maverick Helicopters. Definitely the way to go - a 45 minute flight out; 25 minutes on the ground; 60 minutes back to town via a short refuelling stop in the desert.

The helicopters are really comfortable - great views even from the middle in the back (but much better in the front) and you get a DVD of your entire flight.

The scale of the Grand Canyon is immense - you can't grasp the size of the place even as you're flying into it. The canyon walls in the part we were in went up to 1,800 metres. We flew down them at 300 km/h and it looked like we were doing 60 km/h because everything is so big.

You can only start to appreciate it when you see other helicopters flying through and they are just a dot on the wall.

I took lots of video - the other guys will have most of the stills.

On the ground in the canyon	Our noble steed
	Note the rafts in the river

Taking off out of the Grand Canyon

Back in town we visited Caesar's Palace. The place is immense. Lunch was in order (Cheesecake Shop) and then we had a bit of a wander, looking at souvenirs.

After a quick break back at Luxor, we headed out for the evening. First up we watched the Mirage volcano erupt. Second we watch the Treasure Island pirate show. Last time I was in Vegas (in 2000) it was a show with two pirate ships attacking each other. Now the mechanical ship actions and some of the fireworks are the same but it is about pirates being sucked into the clenches of the sirens - palyed by many Vegas showgirls in siutably skimpy outfits.

Tuesday dawned and it was Ben and Gavin's last day in Vegas. We celebrated the occasion by going to the top of Stratosphere - 108 stories above the strip. So high that the helicopter tours run at the same altitude and planes approaching the airport are marginally below the tower height as the turn in for their final approach.

There are three rides on the top of the tower - one slides you off the edge (but catches you just in time); another hangs you over the side and spins you around; the last one starts at floor 112 and shoots you up into the air to around floor 140.

The first two did my head in just thinking about them so we gave them the miss. However, I convinced Alan (who is afraid of heights) to ride the third one. I was a bit nervous - he nearly didn't get on the ride but I talked him into it.

Awesome ride - my legs were a bit wobbly for 30 minutes afterwards. Definitely recommended.

A litle past that is Venetian - we dropped in to see the famed canals and gondolas. Very disappointing. There are two canals (if you can call them that) - one is out the front and the other is inside the casino. Both are very short and the gondolas have little propellers on them - so not really human powered. Even as a romantic thing it is something to miss.

Vegas from the top of Stratosphere
The highest ride	Stratosphere	Venetian

Alan and I had a pretty quiet day on Wednesday. The only thing of note was visting the Titanic exhibition which is excellent. Very thought provoking. It was amazing seeing actual items recovered from the sea floor including a chunk of the ship's hull.

Thursday was our last morning in Vegas. I had a massage (very relaxing) and then we had an early lunch at Hard Rock, a quick visit to look at the ice and water sculptures in Aria before heading to the airport.

That's pretty much it for Las Vegas - it was up to Seattle for me - visiting Microsoft and then back to LA, Auckland and Perth.

Last view of the New York, New York rollercoaster	Ice sculptures inside Aria	Whirlpools at Aria

A friend from many years ago (Mike - he has been working in Asia and nore recently in the US for Microsoft and has just resigned) picked me up from the airport and gave me the night-time tour of Seattle.

He has a plane parked at Boeing Field so we got onto the airfield and I got a cross-the-runway view of a few of the 787 Dreamliners currently there.

We also drove by the Museum of Flight (more on that later) which has a Concorde (second for my trip - Mike has flown on this one - I am so jealous); the first Air Force One plane (a 707); the first 747 and what looks like at first glance to be another SR-71 but is actually a M-21 with a D-21 drone attached.

There was also an Ethopian Air 777-200LR in the museum car park (which made it a lot smaller) - this was very new.

After that we went past the Space Needle which was constructed in 1962 as part of the Seattle World Fair. A short visit to Mike's stunning house on the lake and then back to the hotel for me.

Space Needle at night

You can never have too many pillows

Friday was a visit to Microsoft to get some background in-depth information on various products. Good information - also had lunch with Mike and another ex-pat Aussie who also works for Microsoft. After lunch I caught up with one of the deep-dive technical specialists and had my brain filled with Microsoft goodness.

On the way out I visited a quadrangle which had a plaque embedded in the ground for every Microsoft product shipped up until 1999. Geeky cool.

I had a TRS-80!

Really?

DeHavilland Beaver

Had dinner with Mike, his wife Ros and two of their friends - great Thai restaurant. The food in Seatle was the best I'd had the whole trip.

I had a late afternoon flight to LA on Saturday so Mike picked me up (again - I really apreciated the help getting around) and we visited the Museum of Flight. It seemed fitting to round out the trip this way with more air and space stuff.

Second Concorde for the trip		Inside Concorde	Inside Air Force One (707)
	First NASA vomit comet	Early 727	First 747
M-21 with D-21 attached
SR-71 starter	SR-71 cockpit	Another F-104

I made it to the airport well early (trying to build up the good karma) but if failed - the inbound plane for my flight was delayed in SFO for 45 minutes. We were an hour late leaving Seattle which cut my time for transit in LAX down to 90 minutes. Pretty tight but luckily the Virgin terminal is right next door to the Air New Zealand one.

However, the LAX baggage handlers conspired against me - they took about 20 minutes to deliver the bags so by the time I checked in (luckily ANZ still let me on) I was within an hour of departure time.

Getting through the TSA security theatre took another 20 minutes so by the time I got to the gate we were already boarding. Talk about just in time!

Again, the baggage handlers took control. It was another hour before all the cargo was loaded on the plane and then the baggage handling machine broke down so they had to get a tug to pull it away from the plane. A long taxi to the runway (past three parked Qantas A380s all with their engine cowls open) was interrupted when the pilots thought we'd run over something and had a car come out and examine the landing gear.

Finally, 90 minutes late we left LAX. Not a big deal for me because my scheduled transit in Auckland was 6 hours. Sleep was the order of the flight.

In summary, other than missing the shuttle lauch the trip was fanastic.